


Mirage in the Force - Crackling Fire

by ReyErso5280



Category: Reylo - Fandom, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Night Terrors, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Reylo - Freeform, Reylo Weekly Challenge, Star Wars - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-24 14:59:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14357868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReyErso5280/pseuds/ReyErso5280
Summary: Following day after Rey has awoken from her coma from their trauma on Parnassos. Finally confessing their true feelings to each other Ben and Rey have found peace. But there are already rifts in the Force that will test Ben in Rey in way's they never expected.





	Mirage in the Force - Crackling Fire

**Author's Note:**

> This is the companion piece to Mirage in the Force - Tattered Fabric
> 
> and to get a deeper context of their trauma that is mentioned in these stories, you can find it in this chapter of my longer fan fiction
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/13790784/chapters/31719372

Rey was returning from the mess hall with some evening tea. The night was winding down and she was just catching up with everyone after being unconscious for so long. looking at the reflection in the translucent brown liquid a warm flush came over Rey's face. She remembered Rose giving her a gentle smile knowing all to well what happened the night before. Accidentally dipping into Roses thoughts Rey heard her say that she was glowing and looked different. _Did she?_ Rey gave herself an awkward and embarrassed smile. _Had they really confessed and finally vocalised their true feelings? Was it a dream?_ A warm light came over Rey as she took a deep breath and let the feelings come over her. Flashes of their night together started to tingle in her body again. turning the corner to make her way to Ben’s quarters she felt a cold presence.  A cold she hadn’t felt since the cave on Ach-Tu. So cold that she could almost see her breath. The air grew very still as if there was nothing, an echo of only her breathing and heartbeat. It was growing thicker as the presence was getting stronger. Rey's heart started to race and she feared something or someone was attacking Ben. 

Mindlessly dropping the cup full of tea she sprinted to the door, all the while preparing to see the worst. If there was anything to be learned over the last 3 years since leaving Jakku, anything was possible when the force was involved.

The door hissed open and Rey slowly walked into the room, moving her head left to right, bracing herself for a fight. Ben had his back turned to her but this time it was hunched and contorted, not like how she saw him the night before peaceful and meditating. Back and chest heaving, Ben was motionless as the scars that littered his back, neck and shoulders glistened in the dim light.

Rey moved a little closer to see exactly what Ben was doing. Knees pressed on the mattress, Ben held a pillow between his big hands almost as if strangling someone. But no one was there and Rey quickly realised Ben was lost in a night terror.

Rey didn’t dare speak knowing it could send him off. She had seen this before with the old drunk scavengers left from the war. they saw shadows in the dark and ghost from the past, demons haunting them while they slept. Roaming the Nima Outpost rambling incoherent phrases and shouting at the sky all the while with a dull stare in their eyes. Rey made the mistake once before trying to help one of them and nearly had her wrist broken from it.

Rooted in place Rey took a deep breath and reached out into Bens mind. He wasn't just reliving a nightmare, it was their nightmare. Rey felt her stomach turn at the realisation that by being in a coma for three weeks after their near fatal execution attempt by Hux gave Rey the luxury of never acknowledging and accepting what happened. It never occurred to her Ben had been dealing with the memories and flashbacks alone. That cursed word, it always seems to haunt them in all their actions. But last night both of them had dropped their defences, opening themselves to intimate feelings and thoughts the warrior in them would have otherwise suppressed. For the first time they weren't alone, they had each other, and now their bond was stronger than ever. 

Rey closed her eyes and gently dug a bit deeper into Bens mind as his name left her whispering lips. Sounds of screaming and gasping filled the room and there she saw him. Ben was back in the arena on Parnassos holding a squirming stormtrooper by the throat. White books kicking top dust as he struggled to break free, the trooper reminded Rey of the fish she saw on Naboo. Rey remembered this trooper, This was one of the that Hux commanded to start violating her unconscious broken body on the execution platform for all to see. Ben's body stiffed as he felt her presence, he knew she was there but couldn’t see her. A panicked fear filled the tone of his voice as the broken knight looked back and forth for his scavenger. 

“Rey where are you?” heart skipping a beat Rey wanted to speak but she couldn’t, it all felt to real to her too.  
  
The hot sand seared beneath her bare feet as she wiggled exposed toes through the individual grains. Rey had nightmares in the past, even heard voices the she would chase after on the cold desert nights in Jakku, but nothing like this. She never felt anything so real that even she forgot for a moment where she was. No this felt more like the Force flashback she had after touching Luke's lightsaber for the first time.    
  
“Rey please answer me! Tell me you’re ok”

Ben's voice tremble as his still body was now starting to shake uncontrollably. Rey couldn't tell if he was cold from the streaks of sweat that were now running down his scared back, or if it was the pure adrenaline coursing though his veins. 

without a second though Ben snapped the neck of the trooper and rose to his feet as if he had done the move thousands of times before, a second nature. The violent action caused Rey to gasp forgetting her vow not to startle Ben from his dream like state. Immediately whipping his head around Ben looked in Rey’s direction but to her horror that glazed over look filled his eyes, as if a man possessed. Ben was not here on the battle cruiser, he was back on Parnassos.

“Ben” Rey whispered trying to gently bring him back. she took one step closer and felt the cold floor against her feet, she knew where she was. But she saw what Ben's hallow eyes he could see causing her blood ran cold.

“Let her go you bastard” gritting his teeth as he continued his advance towards her. Ben wasn’t looking at her, his eyes were fixed on something else. Rey could feel his rage starting to burn as she realised that Hux appeared to be holding her captive.  
  
“Don’t you touch her...”  
  
Ben snarled as he braced for a stand off. Rey’s heart was starting to pound in her chest. It was the first time in ages she truly felt fear inside herself from Ben’s actions. She always trusted him but now in his half conscious state it wasn’t clear what would happen next.

“Ben please...please look at me”  
  
“Rey stay there I’m coming for you”  
  
“Ben you need to wake up...”  
  
Rey looked again into Bens mind and felt hands on her body, touching her, pulling at her, but they weren’t Ben’s. No these were rough, violent, and violating her. If she didn’t know Ben was dreaming, she too would have been lost in the mirage of this force nightmare. The general now had his face in the crook of her neck egging Ben on to try and stop him.

In a split second Ben screamed a deep guttural battle cry, calling his lightsaber to his hand and in one solid swipe swung the crimson blade down towards Rey.

“BEN!!” Rey screamed shooting her hand straight out stopping him cold in his movements. the room went absent of sound. all that could be heard was the fiery unstable lightsaber crackling inches from her left cheek. Rey could feel the heat of the blade once again just like their first meeting. Finding the courage to open her eyes Rey took a movement to process what happened. The two Jedi's eyes met and Rey could see Ben across from her with a look that could only be described as a mixture of terror and curiosity. She had frozen him in place like he had once done on Takodana to her outside Maz’s castle, but had never used such a dark power in the force successfully before. It must have been a biproduct of their force bond she mused to herself.

All Ben could see was his beloved scavenger inches away from his trademark finishing move, realising Rey had used his own power against him. frantically looking around Ben tried to make sense of everything that happened but more importantly to see if she was hurt.

staring at him intensely Rey steeled her nerve, no longer scared, as they both caught their breath. She knew Ben needed to see that she was not afraid of his violent night terrors and that everything was ok. That they were ok. Otherwise he would retreat back into his ultimate fear of always being that “monster”

Testing the force freeze Ben tried to move but he wasn’t going anywhere. finally breaking the silence his voice cracked barely over a whisper  
  
“I can’t move”  
  
“I know...” Rey took a deep breath and shifted her weight ducking under his blade and move to the outside of his forearm.

Gently and slowly she placed both hands around his that were firmly gripped to the lightsaber. Disengaging the blade she gently pried it from Ben’s hands, causally tossing it on the bed. But Rey didn’t release him from the force freeze as she took his weapon away, but placed her lips gently on his still extended hands. she tenderly ran her cheek across his trembling fingers and met them with a gentle kiss.

Ben started to fill with incredible shame and Rey felt it, she knew this is where it would go. She knew he needed to see that everything was ok...but actions not words would help.

“Rey I’m...” He started to mutter, tears welling in his eyes. Cursing a broken body for betraying him, for no longer able to keep all the emotions at bay.   
  
“Shhhhh don’t say a word” she firmly pressed. Her voice wasn’t harsh but it was controlled and concentrated.

Ducking back under his arm Rey stood squarely in front of him. Slowly extending a hand she caressed Ben’s chest trying to ground him back to the sleeping quarters of a battle cruiser and not in an execution arena on a raging planet lightyears away. Ben felt his heart swell at Rey's gentle touch, throat failing to stifle a sob that was slowly building. 

“Rey...please release me” he gently begged. Rey softly looked back into his dark eyes.

“Do you know where we are Ben?”

He did know, he was sure now. All the peaceful memories of the previous night came over him like a warm glow. Closing his eyes remembering the feeling of her skin under his fingers. The soft breathless moans that escaped her as he caressed her, exploring every dip of her small frame.

"Ben?" Now Rey was hanging on his every movement, but saw a shift of peace come over him.  
  
“Yes, we are in my bed chambers where we...” Ben hesitated for a moment almost embarrassed at his next choice of words. Words couldn’t even begin to describe what they experienced, but Rey needed to know he was here. Finding the courage he swallowed hard and finished. “Where we made love to each other last night”

Rey sensed how vulnerable Ben felt saying those foreign words and all she wanted to do was hold him close. Immediately releasing her force freeze on Ben, Rey rushed into his arms, bracing his heavy frame as they both crumpled to their knees. Relieved at his new freedom Ben tried to speak but Rey’s hungry lips were now pressed against his. Cupping her small face in his large hands, Ben returned the kiss at a fever's pace. Rey’s first instinct was to ask him to take her again. It was the only way she could think Ben would see she wasn’t afraid of him, that she trusted him. That she truly meant that she loved all of him, light and dark. But Rey sensed that just being close to him was enough for now.

No longer able to keep the walls up Ben started to sob between the breaths of their kiss. Rey placed her forehead gently against his and allowed the tormented man release it all.

“I nearly killed you...I didn’t know...I...”

She sweetly kissed his forehead shushing his staggering words  
  
“But you didn’t”  
  
“Rey, it felt so real. I thought they were hurting you again”

Even Rey took a moment to reflect that this wasn’t a nightmare. It was a memory of what really happed back on the planet. She just somehow suppressed her own trauma, maybe because she had barely been awake for 48 hours and hadn’t had time to process it all like Ben had. feeling a chill go down her spine Rey knew it could have easily been the other way around tonight and knew her time would come.

Rey pulled Bens weary head to her shoulder and ran her fingers through his hair, something their bond last night showed was a powerful way to sooth him.  
  
“Ben nothing has changed...I still love you”  
  
Ben caught his breath and lifted his head to meet her gaze. their lips caressed each other once more in a tender kiss.  
  
“But how about we keep lightsabers and blasters out of the bedroom for now eh?”  
  
Ben let out a breathless giggle and shook his head in agreement. Rey guided Ben to his feet and helped him back into bed. She picked up his saber and walked towards the door. The chamber door hissed open and Rey poked her head out and saw Lamu, one of Ben’s trusted knights outside. He immediately ran her direction.  
  
“Everything ok Lady Rey?” Rey almost jumped at the greeting. Such reverence towards her with even a title, she felt like she was a somebody and the sensation was strange to her.  
  
“Yes please hold on to this” she slowly handed the weapon to Lamu and with out questioning he took the saber and left her in peace.

The door closed behind Rey as she made her way back to Ben, who had now gotten into bed. She lightly stepped out of her night clothes and got under the covers next to him. Ben had his arms pulled tightly to his chest, afraid to move or touch her. Rey shifted her weight and inched closer gently pulling on his wrist as she guided his strong arm around her naked frame.

Motioning to hold her closer Rey nuzzled her head into his chest as she listed to his heart that was now pounding in his chest.  
  
“Ben...it’s all over now. we are safe”  
  
Her words hit true and she felt his body relax and he pulled her tighter towards him. Rey in turn calmed herself but tried to clear her thoughts. She knew this would happen again, that this was the price of their love forged in war. But Rey was determined not to allow Ben to end up like the lost soldiers on Jakku. She would always be there for him.


End file.
